


Mask of The Asshole Torn Away

by LiterallyThePresident



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Boggarts, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 14:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15664650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/pseuds/LiterallyThePresident
Summary: Peter and Juno’s class are learning about boggarts today





	Mask of The Asshole Torn Away

Boggarts weren’t a particularly fun topic for Peter Nureyev. They forced honesty, and honesty was something he generally tried to avoid. As for educational purposes, he personally thought it was rather cruel to force students to face their worst fears in front of an entire class, but so far his numerous complaints to the Headmaster had been ignored. He’d managed to convince them to move it from fourth year to seventh year, but that was all. And so he was forced to stand quietly in line as student after student in front of him were traumatized and terrified.

There was one good thing about this, though. He could memorize the fears of others in case he ever needed to use them. Mick Mercury was afraid of spiders. Valles Vicky was afraid of Ingrid Lake dumping her. Cassandra Kanegawa was afraid of herself. Buddy Aurinko had a breakdown when the boggart turned into a girl with green hair and had to be removed. Peter sighed as the class progressed. Honestly, this was so barbaric.

Next up after Julian Safran cried about his boggart-boyfriend being dismissive of him was Juno Steel. Juno Steel, class asshole six years running, rude snarky prick who got in everyone’s business and acted like a total ass to anyone who tried to befriend him. Juno Steel the unfairly handsome hufflepuff who could make Peter forget every grievance with him just by smiling that crooked smile. Juno Steel who probably barely remembered Peter’s name. The only people he seemed to tolerate on a regular basis was a bubbly Ravenclaw named Rita and the stubborn Gryffindor keeper, Alessandra Strong. No one knew why, and neither women were forthcoming on why they’d befriended him of all people. As a result, Juno was something of an enigma among Hogwarts students. An enigma that Peter Nureyev had a vested interest in solving. He’d had several conversations with the man, each one drawing him further and further into the inescapable black hole that was Juno’s magnetism. He wanted to know more, he _ached_ to know him. Juno Steel was someone Peter could easily fall for if he wasn’t careful.

So when said enigma walked apprehensively to the front of the class, sighing about getting this over with, everyone strained to see what the infamous Juno Steel’s boggart would be. A werewolf? A dementor? Professor O’Flaherty? What could Juno Steel possibly be afraid of? Peter found himself leaning forward as well, his own curiosity burning. He wanted to know, and he felt no guilt about being nosy. Nosiness often saved lives. So again he asked himself, what could Juno Steel possibly be afraid of?

The answer, as it turned out, was nothing anyone expected. The boggart morphed into a few shapes before settling into the form of a woman with tired eyes and kinky black hair. Juno’s bored expression immediately shifted into a kind of dread, something raw flashing in his eyes. He backed away slightly, and if that wasn’t a sign that there was something horrible about this woman, Juno’s next word sealed it.

“Mom?” his voice cracked, and the room went deathly silent. The professor’s eyes sharpened, and she straightened attentively. Peter tensed. Why was his mother his boggart?

“Hey there, little monster.” the woman said, looking down at Juno with disdain, “Bet you weren’t expecting to see me this year.” Juno was frozen, eyes wide and wand shaking. He didn’t move at all, and the woman’s disdain seemed to grow, “Nothing to say? Weird, you usually talk my ear off.”

“Mr. Steel.” The Professor said quietly, “The spell.”

“Yes, cast the spell.” the woman said with a sneer, “If you can even get that right. I’m surprised you even made it past second year with how slow you are sometimes.” Juno shrank into himself, his usually confident posture gone, replaced with that of a scared child bracing for a blow.

“Riddikulus.” he whispered, his voice uncharacteristically small, but the spell was weak and the woman remained. She laughed a mocking laugh, true hate in her eyes.

“Poor little monster, a seventh year and you can’t even perform a basic spell.” she simpered, “And you don’t even have a good personality to make up for your utter incompetence. You selfish little boy, why don’t you just give up?”

“Shut up.” Juno said, and his voice was shaking, “Just shut up.”

“God, you’re like a broken record.” she sighed with annoyance, “And you wonder why everyone likes Benzaiten better.”

“Shut up!” Juno shouted, the tip of his wand flaring red for a second.

“Mr. Steel.” the professor said again, “This is not your mother.” Juno spared a glance at her, like he’d forgotten she was there.

“Right.” he muttered, “Fucking boggart.”

“Language, kid.” the boggart scolded, “Mommy is the only one allowed to swear, remember?”

“Riddiku-“

“Juno.” she cut him off, “Where’s Ben?”

“Huh?” Juno blinked, taken aback.

“You’re supposed to be watching him.” she said, “Don’t tell me you can’t even keep track of your own brother? Who knows what could happen to him because of your negligence? Running off to a stupid wizard school and leaving your defenseless, naive muggle brother alone with an abusive monster every year, honestly, what were you _thinking_?”

“No-“

“If anything happens to him, it’s on you.” the look on her face was ugly, “You know he feels sorry for me, you know he’ll forgive me no matter what. If I go too far one day, if I _kill_ him-“

“No!”

“-It will be your fault.” she hissed, and Peter found himself _despising_ a woman he’d never met, “Just like everything else in our lives. And I will never let you forget it.”

“Ben is fine.” Juno looked truly afraid, trembling as his voice broke, “He’s _fine_ and he’s your favorite so you won’t kill him! If you so much as _touch_ him I’ll-“

“Riddikulus!” the professor finally stepped in, sliding between Juno and the boggart as her wand flared. The boggart twisted and snarled, shifting into the same woman, but wearing a clown costume and holding an ungodly amount of balloons.

No one laughed. Not even the many people who didn’t particularly like Juno.

The professor banished the boggart with a wave of her wand, her face hard and unyielding. “Class dismissed.” she said, her tone brooking no arguments, and Peter couldn’t even find it in him to be relieved he wouldn’t have to face his own fear. As the students filed out, whispering among themselves, she took Juno by his trembling shoulders and gently guided him towards a seat. Peter wanted to stay, wanted to pull Juno into his arms and comfort him until that trembling stopped and that lost look on his face vanished. But one hard look from the professor told him that his help was not wanted right now, and he reluctantly shuffled out with the other students. He sent one last look backwards as the people around him chattered in awe about class asshole Juno Steel’s abusive mother and muggle brother, and he knew that the story would be all over the school within the hour.

“Now why don’t you tell me about your mother.” he heard the professor say gently, and as the door swung shut Peter saw the protective glint in her eyes that promised Juno’s mother was in for a world of hurt.

He’d comfort Juno later. Right now he had to go to the library. He needed to know the laws against kidnapping muggles to the wizarding world. After all, the first rule of breaking a law is knowing exactly how it works. And the look on Juno’s face when Peter Nureyev presented him with his brother, safe and sound, would be worth everything.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a few little fuckets planned for this crossover but fuck knows when or if I’ll finish them


End file.
